Read Online Summoner: Origins The Prequel by Taran Matharu - Free Book Online

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    â€˜A wyrdlight is just a ball of raw mana. The summoner must transfer mana from the demon to their own body via a mental link, then push the mana through their finger, like so,’ Elaine continued, brandishing a finger in the air. For a moment, nothing happened, and Arcturus wondered whether she knew what she was doing. Then, in the blink of an eye, there was a blast of light that illuminated the ceiling above her, beaming from her finger.
    â€˜The summoner must then control the mana and make it into a ball. By concentrating, they will be able to manage the size, shape and movement of their spell, in this case, a wyrdlight. If they do not, the spell will come out in a blast, wasting a whole lot of mana, as I just showed you.’
    â€˜Very good, Elaine!’ Elizabeth said, smiling at the girl and holding her hand up for a high five. Elaine rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Valens, who has settled on her shoulder.
    â€˜Well . . . er . . . let’s move on to more advanced spellcraft,’ Elizabeth said, dropping her hand with disappointment. ‘As Elaine said, a wyrdlight is just a ball of raw mana, which can be controlled with a bit of practice. It’s only real use is a light source, a flash to blind your opponent and occasionally, target practice. It disappears as soon as you touch it.’
    Elizabeth snuffed out her wyrdlight with a snap of her fingers, which also served to return Elaine’s attention back to her once again.
    â€˜The real power we summoners wield comes from etching. Please watch closely. I send the mana to my finger, rather than through it.’ Elizabeth held up her hand. Her fingertip glowed a dull blue, growing steadily brighter until it burned almost white and Arcturus had to shield his eyes.
    â€˜When your finger is bright enough, you draw a symbol, like so!’ Elizabeth sketched a strange, jagged triangle in the air, leaving glowing blue lines, like the afterglow of a cinder being waved in the air.
    â€˜This is the shield spell. It is one of the four battle spells that every summoner uses when fighting. The others are Fire, Lightning and Telekinesis.’ She demonstrated by drawing each in succession, the first a flamelike, curling symbol, the next a zigzagging bolt and the final a hypnotic swirl. Arcturus wished he had pen and paper to draw them, but instead focussed on memorising the shield spell. Better to be able to protect himself than hurt someone else.
    â€˜You must hold your finger in the very centre of the symbol until it fixes,’ Elizabeth continued, putting her finger in the middle of the shield symbol. It pulsed once, and as she waved her finger in the air, it followed the tip. It was as if it were fixed there by an invisible frame. This time, Elaine watched closely, her eyes wide as she took it all in. Arcturus grinned, glad that this was all new to the young girl. It seemed he wasn’t as far behind her after all.
    â€˜You need to maintain a steady flow of mana to your finger, otherwise the spell will disappear,’ she said, nodding at the other symbols as they faded in the air. ‘The most difficult part is pushing mana both to and through your finger at the same time. Like so.’
    Elizabeth frowned with effort, then a thread of opaque material streamed from the symbol, pooling in the air like frogspawn underwater. Sacharissa growled at the strange material, but Arcturus hushed her with a ruffle of her ears.
    â€˜You then shape it as you wish, in this case, like a shield.’ The pool shifted, then folded itself into an oval that floated in front of her. ‘This will protect you from projectiles and other spells, even a sword blow.’
    The shield dissolved into a floating globule once again, then she sucked it back in through the symbol.
    â€˜You can conserve mana by absorbing the spell once you’re done with it.’
    â€˜Why don’t you make it bigger?’